Labour violence in Gurgaon again

A worker’s death at a construction site spiralled into uncontrollable violence here on Friday, with a mob of 1,000 labourers vandalising the developer’s project office, burning a police jeep and a motorbike and damaging dozens of cars. HT reports.

A worker’s death at a construction site spiralled into uncontrollable violence here on Friday, with a mob of 1,000 labourers vandalising the developer’s project office, burning a police jeep and a motorbike and damaging dozens of cars.

The mob erupted after a labourer fell to his death from the sixth floor of a building at Golf Course Extension in Sector 58. Workers alleged the contractor tried to hide the body to destroy evidence. The 28-floor highrise is part of private builder IREO’s Grand Arch residential project.

The deceased, Bakul Hassan, 25, from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, was fitting windowpanes. He was declared dead on being taken to a private hospital.

Police said the workers got into an argument with the

security guards who were trying to rush Hassan to hospital. “The workers, backed by some unscrupulous elements, assaulted the guards and set their cabin on fire. The police team that arrived was also attacked and its vehicle burnt,” said Gurgaon DCP (south) Hamid Akhtar.

The mob then targeted the site office of IREO and smashed some parked vehicles. Additional police force was brought in to control the situation. Several workers were arrested.

Police were also investigating the recovery of another worker’s body from the same site later in the evening.

An IREO spokesperson said one of its ambulances had sent Hassan to a nearby hospital immediately. “The construction of the Grand Arch project is being undertaken by L&T Ltd,” the spokesperson said.